The present invention relates to a telephone communication system within a building or facility, and in particular to an indoor wireless telephone communication system with integrated pager functionality.
Audio or voice calls can be transmitted to hand held wireless telephones via a wireless communication system. Wireless communication systems may be xe2x80x9coutdoorsxe2x80x9d, wherein wireless cellular telephones communicate via mobile units stationed outside of buildings, or xe2x80x9cindoorsxe2x80x9d, in which communication service is provide to multiple end terminals within a building or facility by base stations located internally therein. One example of an indoor wireless communication system is the DEFINITY wireless business system (DWBS) manufactured by Lucent Technologies. An indoor wireless communication system is similar to a cordless telephone, except that a single telephone is not associated with a single base, instead telephone communication service is provided to multiple end terminals throughout the building using a plurality of internally located base stations. Each base station is capable of handling a multitude of calls. As an end terminal device is moved throughout the building, in which the indoor wireless communication system is installed, continuous communication service is provided by passing off the call among the base stations. The DWBS indoor wireless communication system is advantageous in that it operates in the unlicenced personal communications service (PCS) band and thus, unlike outdoor cellular communication systems, does not have an associated air time charge. The indoor wireless communication system receives external audio calls and transmits the calls to their recipient end terminal. In addition, internal audio calls can be transmitted between end terminals. The indoor wireless communication system may integrate well known call features, such as caller identification which displays the telephone number of the calling party of an external audio call, or the name of the calling party associated with the end terminal, if the call is among end terminals of the indoor wireless communication system.
In addition to incoming audio calls, subscribers to an indoor wireless communication system may also receive incoming pager messages. In order for an end terminal in an indoor wireless communication system to receive both audio calls and alphanumeric pager messages, the subscriber must carry a wireless telephone and a separate paging device. Having to carry two devices around is cumbersome and inconvenient.
It is therefore desirable to develop an indoor wireless communication system that integrates pager message functionality, thereby eliminating the need to carry a separate pager device in addition to a hand held wireless telephone.
The present invention is directed to an indoor wireless communication system with integrated pager functionality and a method of using the same.
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a system is provided that includes a plurality of end terminals (wireless telephones and/or wired telephones), each having an assigned internal terminal identification. These end terminals are in wired or wireless communication with one or more base stations located within the facility where the end terminals are located. External audio calls and pager messages from outside, as well as within the building, are routed to the appropriate terminals. A system controller receives external pager messages that identify a recipient pager device for the message with an external pager identification in the header of the message. The system controller relates the external pager identification to the internal terminal identification of a recipient end terminal using a database or look-up table. Accordingly, external pager messages may be received at end terminals (wired and/or wireless telephones) in an indoor wireless communication system without the need for separate pager devices.